5 micro-changes to help you make the most of every day

If I were to ask, ‘what’s important to you?’, I think most of us would have no trouble naming at least a few things – ‘family’, ‘friends’ and ‘wellbeing’ are probably right up there.

But in between the big things, the significant moments, is everyday life. And the little moments still matter. It’s important that as well as thinking about big goals, we also remember to make time to appreciate the beauty in the everyday.

Well, positive habits don’t form overnight, so I’ve put together a few tips to help inspire you to start living in the moment a little more.

Give good things an official spot in your routine

Keeping a schedule for chores is very useful, keeping a schedule things you love doing is even better.

Take reading a bedtime story for example, which we do every night with my youngest to the point it’s practically set in stone. It’s a fantastic way to reinforce that those kinds of moments that happen every day.

Switch off to wake up

If autopilot for you means always staring at your screen, turn off the phone!

Choose somewhere in your life that you’d love to make more time for, be it after dinner or once you’re in bed, then make sure that phones and tablets are banned during that time.

It’s so easy to gravitate towards your phone at the first hint of boredom or because you haven’t had your hourly news fix, but if it’s not there it can give you the nudge and reminder you need to live in the moment and appreciate what’s around you.

Embrace time-saving hacks

Quicker ways of doing routine tasks are all the rage on social media for a reason – if we can get the boring stuff done quicker, we can spend more time enjoying ourselves.

Always be on the lookout for ways to save time on things you do a lot, a few minutes here and there really starts to mount up. You can actively search for new ways too. Time-saving tips are available online for almost anything, from doing laundry to speeding up the time it takes to get ready for school.

Make a list of the greatest time-sinks in your routine and get researching.

Find joy in everything

Part of being on autopilot means always looking ahead. “Lunch is in two hours.”…”Our holiday is in 2 weeks.”…”We’re moving next year.” We look forward to the things we know make us happy and do our best to plough through the bits in between.

What if we could find a way to enjoy the moment we’re in? Next time you hear yourself thinking, “just two more hours”, stop and think, how can I enjoy the next two hours? Maybe you’ll put some music on while you work, maybe you’ll stand up and move your task to somewhere else, somewhere fresh.

Break the routine – life is for the living.

Get real

Say what you mean and mean what you say! We say yes four times a day when we don’t mean it, and the opposite can be just as true.

Next time someone asks something of you and you’re not sure how you want to reply just take even a second of time and a deep breath. Remind yourself what’s important to you and try to align your answers with that.

AHh I love this Emily, find joy in everything is something I really want to try harder at! I am naturally a very pessimistic person but try hard to find the positive in every day. I think being positive and finding joy is quite different though and I want to enjoy much more of life next year, it’s been a long time coming!

One of the harder ways for me to make the most of every day is learning when to shut off from work. As a work at home mom I have to learn how to stop working. Especially when I’m on a roll. Sometimes I will set an alarm to remind me to stop working.

I love the idea of adding things I enjoy doing to my daily routine. It will go a long way to improving my everyday mood.

I’m definitely guilty of being on autopilot and saying yes to things I don’t really want to say yes to. Stacey was out all day Saturday doing an assignment for school with some friends. She came home, had some dinner and then asked if she could sleep over at another friends house. I was busy dealing with Oscar at the time so just said yes so I didn’t have to deal with a teenage strop, but what I really meant was no, I wanted to have a nice family evening. Oh well, there’s always next weekend!

Some great action tips here. I’m a great be liver in taking positive steps in life. I’m constantly talking to my girls about focusing on the good and not the bad. Life is full of magical moments but if you’re not looking you miss them xxx

I really love this, I completely agree, we should all live the life we want to live. I’m making little changes in my life to put me first sometimes. It’s difficult with three young children but I think it’s important.

Oh wow totally agree with everything you say! Mean what you say is a perfect phrase and something i try to live by, if we say we are going to do something then we make sure we follow it through – just go for it!